WTA in California

The WTA in CaliforniaThe Water Technology Alliance in California has been established with an overall objective to facilitate a dedicated effort in providing Danish solutions within water technology. The WTA is a dedicated team striving to strengthen ties, share knowledge and facilitate collaboration and innovation.

The WTA aims to improve their own as well as their partners water systems by sharing data, knowledge, ideas and experiences, investigate potentials and welcoming fact-finding visits to state-of-the-art facilities in Denmark.

Our BackgroundThe largest and leading water utilities in Denmark, Aarhus Water, VCS, BIOFOSS & HOFOR (3Vand) supply drinking water and handle wastewater for approximately 25% of the Danish population. They have established a strategic collaboration which, among other things, seeks to share knowledge that has been gained through decades of experience in Denmark. The collaboration includes an international working group, and one of 3Vand’s main goals is to collaborate with Danish Embassies and Consulates around the world and to station qualified and experienced employees at these locations where seminars geared towards local authorities and facilities are conducted. The Danish Industry Foundation has made a DKK 1.4 million commitment to support the project, and it is their hope that the gains from the project will be considerable, and that the solution to the water crisis in California will further be able to benefit others in the end.

Our focal points for knowledge sharingThe WTA works to create a sustainable, efficient and energy neutral water cycle. This requires a holistic approach combining three interrelated focal points for knowledge sharing:

Integrated water resource management for sustainability: Danish stakeholders have 30 years of experience on mapping and managing water resources and particular expertise in mapping groundwater aquifers and using data and data models to manage resources and secure successful implementation of sustainable legislation across sectors.

Efficient water distribution and water conservation: The Danish drinking water consumption is below 30 gallons/person/day. This standard was achieved through a combination of customer campaigns and significant improvements in the distribution system. These improvements include implementation of DMAs to monitor the water balance and detect leakages, regulation of pump systems to enable pressure management and use of atomized systems to forecast water consumption and optimize drinking water production. AMIs and handling of big data has helped create a digital utility with transparency in the distribution network.

Energy neutrality: Danish utilities have achieved energy neutrality by lowering the energy use across the total water cycle, whilst at the same time increasing the energy production at the wastewater plants to 200%. This has been achieved solely with wastewater influx and without adding other sources of waste.

The WTA team

Jacob Vind is the Head of the WTA (US) and has worked for more than 10 years with innovation and strategic project development within cleantech, water and ICT. Working out of the Innovation Center Denmark in Silicon Valley, Jacob is responsible for strengthening relations between US and Danish counterparts in the water sector with a particular focus on identifying strategic projects with high innovation potential. Jacob comes with a thorough understanding of business development and a user-focused mindset.

Pia Jacobsen is the Senior Water Engineer of the WTA team. She is the Manager of Drinking Water Operations at one of Denmark’s largest utilities Aarhus Water Ltd. Aarhus Water supplies water to and purify wastewater from 300.000 customers. Pia has 15 years of experience on optimizing the Drinking Water System through development and improvement projects. In the WTA, Pia is working diligently to establish a strong network of professionals in the US through which common goals and results can be achieved. At the same time Pia committed to maintaining close con-tact with Danish utilities and authorities at the forefront of total water cycle solutions. In other words, our Danish water expert, stationed at the Danish Innovation Center in Silicon Valley, is at the disposal of U.S. water & wastewater utilities and other authorities engaged in pushing the envelope for the integrated water cycle.

Morten Mygent Pedersen is Senior Financial Advisor to the WTA in California has a background from Danish financial institution EKF and has substantial experience in financing large-scale innovative water and energy solutions in all parts of the world. In the WTA, Morten will help solve the gordic knot of bringing solutions to the technological forefront without any down payment.

Read more about WTA in California and Related Resources on Danish Water Technology Solutions